Hokusai
by WhiplashKotestu
Summary: He is a wandering monk with weird morales and thinking. Not many people know of him because he doesn't stay in one village too long but when asked, he gives the name Hokusai. Inuyasha thinks the man is weird for releasing him from the tree and letting him wander along with him. Takes place five years before actual story. Male character. Slow burn. Slash. Shounen-ai.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh, my goodness I am a bad writer, starting another fanfic like this. Oh well.**

 **This is my first Inuyasha fanfic, go easy on me guys I know this is a big fandom but try not to chew me out okay? Correct me on any grammar mistakes and if I get a few characters and terms wrong, please?**

 **So this fanfic came to mind when I found out that the InuYasha fandom was lacking male characters so I thought, why not? I'll make one and see how it goes from there.**

* * *

 **Title: Hokusai**

 **Summary: He is a wandering monk with weird morales and thinking. Not many people know of him because he doesn't stay in one village too long but when asked, he gives the name Hokusai. Inuyasha thinks the man is weird for releasing him from the tree and letting him wander along with him.**

 **Takes place five years before actual story.**

 **Pairing/Category To be decided.**

* * *

The smell of the rotting demon on the ground is foul and he is surprised that no other demon has come to pick off it or eat it. Then again another demon did pass by but the demon probably was not fresh.

The monk snorts, black eyes moving away from the rotting corpse to the direction of the trail he had been following. He is pretty sure that there is a village nearby since there is a trail. He hums before turning to follow the dirt path.

He has been traveling for four days. The last village he was in was full of women and children that needed his help. Apparently, a demon went rampid around the area and killed youkai and humans. The village men went after it and then their miko to never return.

He managed to slay it easily.

Then again from what he heard, their miko was an extremely young girl who had started her apprenticeship. She was their last hope. Poor thing. The miko before that past away and left the village to the girl.

He pulls a loose thread out of the hakui he is wearing. The women of the village gave it to him since he was in desperate need of clothing when he arrived back. He didn't mind that he was in a miko attire that much. In truth, it was the only thing that could fit him. Apparently, the late miko had been a tall woman with a nice build to her. He took the clothes and told the villagers that he managed to suppress the youkai and eliminated it. They should not have to worry but he informed them of strengthening their workforce in case of future attacks.

He left before they could ask him to stay.

Now here he was, wondering the forest. The dirt path began to fade a few steps back. The monk does not mind, he can survive without getting to a village on time. He decides to keep moving forward, not at all caring if he got lost in the forest or not.

He manages to see a small clearing of trees moments after walking. 'Must be a small forest,' he thinks to himself and walks toward it.

In the middle of the small clearing is a tree. It's an old thick one, holding strong and standing proudly amongst the others. He narrows his eyes because there is something different about the tree.

It is emitting yokai energy.

It is a small amount. Almost as if the energy is dormant or resting. Then again it could be a small yokai that was present. If that were the case he could easily kill it. He walks up to the tree and begins to circle around it-

Oh-

It… wasn't a small demon after all.

Said demon was pinned up to the tree, an arrow where his shoulder is. From the looks of it, it was some type of canine demon. By the look of the silver ears on his head, he was an inu.

The monk narrows his eyes for a moment. This inu has been here for some time, judging by the way the roots of the tree and some vines had wrapped around his lower half. He looks at the arrow buried in the inu's shoulder. There was some sort of aura coming from it and he reaches forward to try to touch it.

"Stop! Don't ye know what ye are doing!?"

He turns toward the voice, hand still in front of the arrow. The voice is that of a woman, she's old, not too old but old enough for her hair to be grey. She wears an eyepatch and Miko attire. No doubt she is from a village that's close to this forest.

He raises a dark eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"That hanyou was put there for a reason!" She yells out. "Do not try to release him!"

Oh, so it was a hanyou? He's heard stories of how some hanyou are rapid because their yokai often took control of their human sides. He wonders if this was the reason this one was trapped her.

He drops his hand and the woman only relaxes a little.

"Lady," He starts, "Why is he trapped here?"

The lady stands more straight, but it is obvious that she needs a bit more support and is still tired from hurrying here. He wonders if her village is far away or not.

"My sister put him there," She breathes out and starts walking towards him. He takes a step back from the tree. "He tried to steal the Shikon no Tama."

His eyebrows raise as that. It has been some time- a long time- since he has heard that name. The Shikon jewel was something sacred, last time he heard it disappeared.

"My sister pinned him to this tree to make sure he would never escape and be free again." She turns to look at the monk. "What is a monk like yerself doing out here?"

He tilts his head, "I am nothing but a wanderer at the moment, Lady. My village and its people has long died out."

"Oh? Would ye like to come to our village?"

He contemplates for a moment before shrugging, "Hai, maybe you can tell me a little more of that story with your sister if you wish?"

* * *

Her name is Kaede.

Her sister's name was Kikyo.

The hanyou's name is Inuyasha.

Lady Kaede managed to give him a brief story of what had occurred. Apparently Kikyo and the half-demon loved each other but in the end, Inuyasha wanted to take the jewel for himself.

He does not comment much on the story until Kaede tells him that the Shikon Jewel was burned along with her sister's body.

He is content that the cursed thing is gone, but he does not say it out loud.

"How long has the Hanyou been on that tree?"

"Nearly forty-five years now." She answers as he tends to the fire in her hut. He was a bit worried that the hut would build up smoke but apparently, she has done this before. Now she was currently making what looked like rice.

"Does it attract any other youkai?"

Her eye narrows as she gives the pot one more stir, "Believe it or not, yes. Even though the hanyou is sealed and his yokai is suppressed it still attracts demons. The greater youkai seem to not pass but others tend to think of it as an easy meal. I manage to cleanse them before they can reach the village grounds."

"It is tiring is it not?"

"It is, but it be my job."

"Lady you are not getting younger." He states bluntly and Kaede narrows an eye, "I can tell because you were nearly exhausted when you met me. I do not mean to be rude."

"Ye act as though ye can do something about it?"

"I can kill him," He admits and her eye widens. He catches the wooden spoon that falls out her palm. "I'd have to release him first but I'm pretty sure I can kill him."

"I understand ye are a monk but-"

"It is true that your sister put a lot of spiritual energy in that arrow. However, if something of a stronger force were to go at it it can be yanked out. I only ask that you keep your villagers from coming into the forest."

There is a moment of silence as he waits. He grabs the wooden bowl by her and feels it with rice and sits it back next to her. He does not need to eat right now.

"Ye speak with confidence."

"If you do not want me to I will not. I won't cause much trouble and will be on my way."

Kaede keeps silent before nodding. "Give me a few moments to notify the villagers and grab a few things. I will meet ye at the tree..." Her gaze lingers for a few seconds and he makes a barely noticeable smile.

"Call me Hokusai."

* * *

He folds his hands in the sleeves of his robe as he waits patiently for Kaede. The woman said something about getting materials for subjugation. He was not sure why it is needed but the lady seemed to know what she was talking about so he let her be.

Now here he was, sitting cross-legged on the grass across from the tree. He already examined the arrow and calculated how much spiritual energy he needed. He has sutras and then there raw spiritual energy that can be used to kill the hanyou.

He stands, already sensing Kaede's presence coming to the clearing. He looks up to the sky as he waits. It is beginning to become evening.

"Ye are ready?"

"Hai." He answers. "Are your villagers notified?"

"Ye need not to worry." She begins to untie a pouch and pours something into her hand. He sees that they are beads.

"Hm." He turns toward the tree and raises his hand. The arrow pulses. It seems this Kikyo not only put her spiritual energy in it, but emotional energy as well. He grabs onto it and feels the reiki pulse through his hand and it almost burns him.

Actually, it does burn his hand but he manages to snatch it out. His hand is still burning when he drops the arrow and the skin is becoming wrinkled and red. He pays no attention to the pain and keeps his focus on the hanyou that is currently slumped over. Kaede has her hands in a certain position and beads that were in the bag starts to hum softly.

Silence.

The tree pulses.

No, the pulsing is coming from the hanyou.

The monk grabs the sutra out his sleeve and stares, black eyes unwavering. The hanyou's ears twitch every few moments and all is quiet.

The monk stands up straight and lowers his hand.

"Quit acting like you are still sleeping Hanyou." He voices out. Kaede opens her mouth to say something but he holds up a hand to keep her quiet. The hanyou's eyes snap open before blinking rapidly. Then they focus on the two.

"It seems this one has a conscious mind." The monk observed. Knowing that the hanyou had common sense changed things a bit. He was under the impression that it was rapid by the way Kaede spoke of it.

The hanyou crouches and the monk sees the clawed hand twitch.

"You will not harm the lady hanyou, or I will kill you."

"You said you would kill him!"

"I was under the impression that he had lost his mind but he seems pretty stable to me. If he does attack you or moves in a provoking manner I will not hesitate."

"Keh, like you can do anything to hurt me."

"Naa~ He talks." The monk says bemusedly. "Lady if you feel like using those beads will help you might want to do it now before he runs away."

"What beads-" The hanyou starts but Kaede's chanting drowns his words out.

The beads all hovered around her, emitting a white light before shooting towards the hanyou. The hanyou moves but the beads are quicker and the form right around his neck.

"What the hell?!"

The monk hums, "Beads of subjugation? What a wise choice Lady." Kaede nods but it is easy to tell that she is tired. The hanyou is currently tugging at the beads around his neck, but they won't go any higher than his chin.

"You are wasting your energy Hanyou." He informs as he helps Kaede to stand. The hanyou growls at him.

"Take these damn things off of me!"

"You should be happy the lady chose to put those on you or we would have killed you. I am giving you a second chance. You can run away now and leave this village alone."

The hanyou stands with a snarl and the monk raises an eyebrow. "Get. These. Off."

"When I feel like it," The monk answers before turning to the lady. "Lady, go and rest. I can take care of the Hanyou." Said hanyou growled at being ignored. Kaede stands straight with a sigh. "Are ye sure ye can handle him?"

"Hai Hai."

"I am right here!"

The monk ignores him. Kaede stares at the hanyou for a long while before shaking her head and turning to leave. The monk wonders if she wanted to say something before shaking his own head. He turns toward the hanyou who was currently in a crouched position, glaring at him.

"I told you-you could leave."

"I want these off." The hanyou growled out. The monk blinks. It would be easy for him to take it off the hanyou. All he needed to do was override the amount of spiritual energy in it.

"Hn, I'll think about it."

 _"What?!"_

* * *

 ** _A_ rthor's notes:**

 **Wanna know what's funny. Hokusai didn't have a name, I was just gonna keep calling him "the monk" because I couldn't think of one.**

 **On a side note, I might have to practice Inuyasha's personality. I am not sure if I have it down point.**

 **Please R &R**


	2. Chapter 2

Honestly…

This was tiring and so troublesome.

This hanyou was a tenacious one.

It started when Hokusai left Lady Kaede's village that morning. He had spent the night, a bit reluctantly. At the first light of dawn, the monk tried to leave but Lady Kaede managed to catch him.

" _Ye will not stay?"_

 _Hokusai shook his head, black eyes half-lidded. "No, I do not wish to impose."_

 _The Lady seemed to hum, "If ye don't mind. I have a request."_

 _Hokusai raised an eyebrow._

" _I know ye said ye were capable of taking the beads of submission off of Inuyasha. However, I feel like it isn't safe."_

" _You want me to keep them on him?"_

" _I want ye to make sure he doesn't go on a rampage. Ye know the special word to use to force him into submission. Ye are the only one capable of doing it because I cannot leave the village."_

 _Ah, he saw where this was going._

" _In other words, you want to me to make sure he doesn't go around killing things. Or more specifically, you don't want him to turn around and come back around here." He states bluntly, black eyes boring into hers with an intense gaze. Lady Kaede flinched a bit but nodded._

" _Fine." With that he left._

He wished he should have asked for a spare change of clothes. He was still wearing a miko's outfit and there were men in the village but he had been in such a rush to find the hanyou. When he tried looking for him and could not find him he thought the half-demon just ran far away. He was wrong.

Probably an hour into walking away from Lady Kaede's village he could feel the other's youkai following him. It did not help the hanyou that the bushes and trees shook whenever he moved which made it more obvious.

"Seriously." Hokusai breathed out feeling a bit of amusement. He turns into the direction of the hanyou's youkai. "I know you're there the least you could do is try to be quiet about it."

There's a moment of silence before the treetops shook and the hanyou landed on the ground. Hakusai lets out a sigh. "If you're going to follow me don't stalk me like that. Be a good pup and walk."

"I am not a pup!" The hanyou hissed, ears standing up on edge.

"Your attitude tells me otherwise."

"You-"

"Are you coming or not. I don't want to babysit you but the Lady asked me to not let you run around killing people." The monk says in disinterest. The hanyou growled. Who did this human think he was? He didn't care if he was monk or not. He flexed his claws and readied to pounce-

" **Sit."**

-and met the earth.

He could taste the soil, dirt, grass and dead leaves, His nose practically breathed the ground and his head ranged with an echo.

 _What the hell!?_

"Listen," Hokusai walked towards him, grabbing the back of the necklace and somehow yanked the hanyou up. The necklace is still glowing, still adding weight and to add salt to the wound he grabbed one of the dog ears on his head and pulled towards him.

"That was a demonstration of those beads at work. It causes a fuck ton of spiritual energy to connect with the ground as you just intimately became acquainted with. What you're going to do is act like a civilized demon- or human I don't give a damn- and after a years time I will release the necklace."

He lets go of Inuyasha's ear and he fell to the ground again. Not as hard as the first time but it was enough to keep him grounded.

"Every time you try to kill without a good reason I'll be using that necklace. Mind you your reason needs to be justified. Don't go around picking fights and flaring that youkai of yours for no reason. Other than that I don't care what you do."

The weight was gone and the hanyou growled as he placed his hands flat on the ground and pushed himself up. Canines were visible in all.

"So we're stuck together for a year until you can prove you're not a rabid pup. If you try to run I will do more than just cleanse you." The monk states while looking down at him. Their gazes held for a few moments, gold against black before the hanyou turned away.

Hokusai snorts before extending his hand.

"I can get up myself!"

"Hai, hai... " Hokusai turned around and began to walk.

"And I have a name!"

* * *

"If you keep moping this is going to be a long trip." The monk says.

"I ain't moping."

"You're dragging your feet and you keep growling."

Inuyasha doesn't say anything after that. He just wants to leave but the problem was he had no place to go.

Instead, he just sighs and decides to listen to their surroundings for anything out he ordinary.

"If I am correct there used to be a village a few hours North. It's close the mountains though." The monk turns toward Inuyasha, "Do you feel like going that way?"

Inuyasha shrugs. It's not like he had a say in it anyway. He was basically following the other around for a year till he was free. Why should it matter?

"That's not an answer. I asked you because it's a human village and I know how they treat your kind. I don't need to go, I just wanted a change of clothing. We can go somewhere else."

The hanyou's ears twitch. "I don't care…"

"Now now, be a bit more cooperative. If you don't then this will be a long year."

xXx

"Kotodama no Nenju," Hokusai says suddenly. It's night time, they are seated near a stream and have a small fire going. Inuyasha already ate most of the fish but Hokusai has yet to touch his.

"What?" The hanyou raises an eyebrow.

Hokusai points to his beads, "Kotodama no Nenju or the Language Power Rosary. It's called the Beads of Subjugation. It's supposed to use is to control the wearer not bring pain. Whoever made that was aiming for physical pain, not mind or yokai control." Hokusai says it blandly with a frown.

"If someone wanted to take control of a force it would have been better to use spiritual energy to tame a demon's but instead it just shoves someone in the ground. Quite sad."

Inuyasha's ear twitches as he takes another fish off the stake he was using. Hokusai places his hands in his sleeves.

"Why ya telling me this?"

"It's flawed to an extent. It was made specifically for you as well. Did you know that?"

Inuyasha snaps his mouth shut and lowers the fish.

"Lady Kaede told me that the woman, Kikyo made it specifically for you. In my head, the way she made it was meant to treat you like some form of animal."

"I'm not an animal!" The hanyou hissed and Hokusai rolled his eyes.

"I did not say you were an animal. You are a human and a demon, more civilized than animals and most demons out there." Hokusai waved his hand in a dismissal tone. Inuyasha's eye twitched and he stares at the fire. His appetite is gone for now and he has a bitter taste in his mouth.

Were these beads really made for him? Would- Would Kikyo really trick him into wearing them? Did she really not trust him that much back then?

Hokusai grabs the stick his fish was on and bites into it, keeping mindful of bones. Inuyasha has fallen silent and is staring at the fire. Hokusai has to refrain from shaking his head.

"I will say one thing, humans," - the monk says it in a weird tone- "Are probably the worst animals out there Inuyasha."

 **TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

"There used to be village here." Hokusai mumbles. Inuyasha sniffs the air. They were indeed where a village should have been. Now all that was left were empty huts and stables.

"Did they get attacked? There are still fire pits that look fresh."

"No." Inuyasha answers while sniffing again. "I can't smell blood but I do smell a lot of scents. They're probably a day or two ahead of us."

"Oh." Hokusai says. Maybe they were a nomad village? It was rare but was not unheard of.

Hokusai sighed. So much for stopping and looking for clothes of sorts.

Inuyasha's ear twitches and he starts to sniff at the air again. Hokusai continues forward.

"Something's coming."

"People?"

"Oni…" The hanyou looks toward the monk. "Probably smells you."

"Oh." Hokusai says it with a shrugg, a blank expression on his face. "If it comes looking for a fight I'll just cleanse it." Inuyasha snorts and rolls his left shoulder. "Or I could take care of it first."

"Like I said, if it comes to us looking for a fight I'll cleanse it." Inuyasha ignores him, Hokusai sighs, "Fine if it attacks you can get first hit."

This makes Inuyasha flex his fingers and smirk.

The Oni turns out to be a rapid one that's lost an arm and has human intestines hanging out his mouth. Hokusai scrunches up his nose in distaste because it smells and it really is a horrible sight.

Inuyasha happily takes care of it without any help from the monk (because the Hanyou had already descended upon the oni before the monk could say anything).

Oh well, the problem is solved. However there is a new problem that arises.

"It stinks." Hokusai hisses as he looks at the blood on Inuyasha's hands and sleeves."

"Tch, you don't need to tell me that," Inuyasha doesn't even sniff to know it reeks. The blood on his fire rat robe would burn off in time but the grime on his hands and under his claws would be a problem.

Hokusai gives him a blank stare, black eyes looking him up and down before sighing and walking away.

Inuyasha huffs, bastard didn't even say thank you.

* * *

They find a small pond and Inuyasha doesn't waste time in cleaning his hands. Hokusai doesn't seem to pay any mind to the pond or the fish inside. Inuyasha doesn't say anything. If the human wanted to starve than so be it.

"Do you smell anything?"

Inuyasha wipes his wet hands on pants of his robe. He sniffs, "We're close to a village or a group of people." There aren't any youkai around that he smells.

"Good, I need clothes." The monk says and walks in the direction they were headed before. Then he stops and looks over his shoulder at Inuyasha. "Are you comfortable with being around people."

"Oh, I'm just fine." The hanyou rolls his eyes, "Fucking peachy, it's the people that aren't okay with being around me."

Hokusai slowly blinks at him, in a way it reminded Inuyasha of an animal- a feline to be specific. It was weird- especially with how black Hokusai's eyes were.

"Fine," The man turns back around and continues walking, "If they have a problem we'll just leave and head to the next."

"So that's the plan?" Inuyasha asked while shoving his hands into his sleeves, "Just go from village to village until a year is over with?"

"Japan is big enough for us to explore on foot and then some," Hokusai doesn't even turn to look at him as Inuyasha easily catches up with him. "It would be nice to see how much has changed…" He mumbled the last part to himself but Inuyasha's ears caught it.

The hanyou kept silent.

* * *

He was right.

It was one of those nomad villages, where the villages would constantly travel.

Inuyasha chose to stay behind, in the trees where none of the humans could see him. Hokusai didn't pressure the other.

"Hello?" He greeted a woman who came up to him the second he managed to get close enough. He mentally noted, that there weren't many men around. Most of them were young.

The woman didn't seem much of a threat. He could tell she wasn't a Miko but the way she walked gave away that she might be the one in charge.

The woman's eyes went wide at his voice and he was once again reminded that he's wearing a dead miko's clothing.

"Hello to you as well," She seemed to regain herself and greeted with a small bow to the head, "Might I ask what a miko is doing here..?"

"I am a monk," Hokusai informs with amusement dancing in his eyes, "Forgive me for throwing you off, this was the only clothing the last village could give me with my size."

She nods, "A monk you say? M-Might I make a request? We should be able to salvage some clothes and rations for you if you accept!"

"Speak, milady."

"There's an Oni, around where we last were. We ran into it earlier in the year and it seems to keep following us. We could never seem to catch it because after it attacked us it always seemed to disappear. Now it has been… more successful and as you see we don't have many able men…"

"This Oni," he says once she's trailed off, "Did he happened to have one arm?"

"Yes! Have you-"

"My companion slew it," Hokusai reassures her. "We ran into it this morning while coming this way." Hokusai cringes at the memory of how it smelled. "It's gone."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Someone- a young man that looks quite similar to the woman walks up. He was eavesdropping, Hokusai knew it, apparently, the woman did not because she seemed suddenly alarmed and flustered.

"Ryuu-"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?!"

"You'll know when you won't die in a few days." Hokusai deadpans him and the boy flinched. "You all can go back to the area and see it yourself. It smelled so awful I'm sure its remains have yet to be eaten."

The boy's faced twisted into an unreadable expression and he stormed off. The woman sighed. "I'm sorry," She apologized, "He's still a bit emotional. Um…"

"Clothes," Hokusai gently reminded her with a small smile and she nodded.

The clothes are big and loose on him but he doesn't really mind. They fit better than the miko clothes, that's for sure.

"If there's nothing else would you like to travel with us? We're heading towards the mountain to meet up with the other half of our village. If it's not too much trouble for you to travel with us we can give you food while you're traveling with us."

"So you wish for protection?" Hokusai asks bluntly.

The woman (he found out her name was Sayuri), blinks but nods, "Y-yes, if you would please?"

"I will have to ask my friend."

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for the reviews.**


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